New Spins: 7th December 2020

I've spent much of the week putting together my end of year lists and as such I haven't been listening to too much in the way of brand new music. There's three however that deserve a mention in another diverse week of New Spins.

Grief Riffs Drones - LockDrone 1

If you're not a fan of British comedy from the 80s and 90s then you might not get the pun here; but as my blog name should tell you I love a good pun, and trust me this is a good one. Grief Riffs Drones is a side project featuring members of Warrior Pope, Fuck Knuckles and OrganChrist, three stalwarts of the Bristol, UK experimental heavy music scene. Recorded live as an improvised set at The Gryphon, one of Bristol's best underground venues, it's 36 minutes of noisey drone doom that feels inescapably live. It's been recorded and mixed with a great balance so you hear every element, but nothing feels so distinct and direct as to take away from the live feeling. You experience every sound at the same time, hearing every glitch and every bass chord pummel your ears as if you were there in front of the stage feeling this music for the first time like everyone else in the room. If you miss the thrill of hearing completely new music in a live setting then this is a great record to check out.

Listen and download on Bandcamp here

Terror - Sink To The Hell

My favourite hardcore band just released a new four track rarities EP, and whilst it may only be nine minutes of 'new' music from Terror, it's still absolutely cracking and reminds me why this I still love this band. Terror don't reinvent the wheel, they never have done and nor have they ever tried to; they simply take the wheel and make it spin better than any hardcore band out there, and they've been doing that for 15+ years now. Of course I miss going to see doom, sludge and experimental psychedelic noise-drone bands play live, but there's nothing like the thrill of a hardcore show, and if you've ever seen Terror live you'll know exactly what I mean.

Listen and download on Bandcamp here

Sunrot - Dialectical

Sometimes I pick up on a band just because of their name, and I probably don't need to explain why the name Sunrot attracted me. In many ways this was as heavy, dark and uncompromising as I expected, but Sunrot also offer something really articulate and expressive that goes beyond much of the nihilism prevalent in sludge. The third track of this EP, Skull Temple, features some meditative spoken word offerings from Afrofuturist poet Julian Xeer that combines powerfully with the droning soundscape created by the band; it's a beautiful contrast to the grim swampy sludge of the first two tracks. I'd never listened to Sunrot until this EP, but I've been jamming their album Sunnata a lot this week too after discovering them, and I'd highly recommend checking out this band if you're a fan of modern sludge and drone.

Listen and download on Bandcamp here